Kalimera! - Good Day! We begin new series on our blog "World Cuisines" starting today. This week on K&L,  it is Greek week. We have prepared for you a special Greek themed site layout. Today, we serve salad with fried feta! And do come back for the main course on Wednesday and special dessert on Friday :) We are not big fans of long elaborations and  difficult to grasp articles and so, we collected all the essential facts about Greek cuisine in 10 points. More info about some popular Greek dishes on Wednesday. Enjoy! And do let us know how you like this idea, have you ever visited beautiful Greece and what other international cuisines you would like to see in the following weeks!

1. Greece was a very poor country for many, many centuries and this is reflected in the traditional Greek food traditions. In Greece, you cook and eat mainly what you can grow, catch, raise or hunt yourself :)

2. Greece is a family oriented, no matter what is on the table the Greek family will eat it together. Food is simple, yet elegant. People traditionally eat four meals a day, beginning early in the morning and ending late in the evening.

3. Greece's climate is perfect for growing olives and lemons - two most important ingredients in Greek cuisine. 

4. Most popular meats are: lamb and fish, vegetables: eggplant, garlic and zucchini and herbs: oregano, basil, mint, and thyme.

5. Greece is one of the top three olive oil producing countries. Olive oil adds to the distinctive taste of Greek food and is one of the "healthy" fats, which lowers the "bad" cholesterol.

6. The water in Greece is safe to drink out of the tap. And for those who love to dine out we have a good news: there is no closing times for restaurants, bars, cafeterias and night clubs, some of them are open until last customer leaves or simply overnight.

7. The main reason that the Greek have about the highest life expectancy in the world is their diet - which includes an in-born skepticism to processed food. Greeks are incredibly mistrustful to eat an animal that they didn’t know when it was alive, not to mention vegetables or fruits from abroad.

8. Ancient Greeks used honey instead of sugar becuase they didn't have sugar back then :)

9. Feta is officially registered as Greek only trademark. It is made of sheep and goat's milk mixture, than salted and cured in brine solution for minimum of  3 months.

10. Some popular Greek food aphrodisiacs are: garlic, leeks and mint.

Adapted from Donna Hay - fast, fresh, simple

for 2-3 people:

  • 2 cucumbers
  • 3 medium vine-ripened tomatoes
  • 150g pitted mixed olives (black and green)
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 1/4 cup basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup parsley
  • 200g firm feta or halloumi
  • olive oil 
  • 2 tbs red wine vinegar
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tbs honey 
  • sea salt and cracked black pepper

Wash vegetables. Slice cucumbers lengthwise, slice thinly onion, than thickly tomatoes. Divide the cucumber, tomato, olives, onion, basil and parsley between serving plates. Brush feta or halloumi with oil. Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Cook the feta for 30s -1 min each side or until golden (carefully, it may splatter). Place on top of the salad. For the dressing, whisk together the vinegar, oil, honey, salt and pepper, spoon the dressing over the salad to serve. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, serve with fresh bread. Kali orexi! Enjoy!